Photons Riding a Wave of Innovation, Celebration

We are thrilled to congratulate the winners of the 2014 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation. In a gala evening event held Feb. 5 during Photonics West, crystal statues were presented to eight companies and products in nine categories, including two companies and three winning products from Germany. Nanoscribe GmbH of Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen won in the Advanced Manufacturing category for the Photonic Professional GT (PPGT). Hübner GmbH & Co. KG of Kassel won in the Defense and Security category for T-COGNITION, and in the Scientific Lasers category for C-WAVE. Please read more about the winners on page 8 of this issue and at www.PhotonicsPrismAward.com.

Photonics Media, publisher of EuroPhotonics, is proud to present the annual Prism Awards with SPIE, and we congratulate all the winners and finalists. This is the sixth year the awards have been presented. The 2015 Awards will open soon for entries, so watch Photonics.com for details.

And the celebrating is just getting started. Not to be left in the shadow of The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (declared in December by the United Nations and set for 2015), GoPhoton! has been established by the European Centers for Outreach in Photonics to bring photonics closer to the general public through activities such as PhotonicSplash. Both projects are great next steps after the work that the industry around the world has undertaken to advance photonics R&D by underscoring the impact of light-based technologies on the world. Sharing the importance of photonic technologies with the public has implications for building the necessary workforce to continue
to bring these technologies to a growing list of applications, and to improve the public’s understanding of the science.

The GoPhoton! project, which will fully launch in 2015, will include outreach activities and events such as PhotonicSplash that offer students, teachers and the general public the opportunity to learn about photonics by visiting research centers, going to exhibitions, attending talks, and taking part in educational, entertaining and fun events revolving around the concept and applications of light. PhotonicSplash will be carried out in eight cities across Europe: Barcelona, Spain; Bratislava, Slovakia; Galway, Ireland; Milan; Berlin; Brussels; London; and Paris.

Partners in the GoPhoton! initiative include the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Spain, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Ferdinand-Braun-Institut and Leibniz Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik in Germany, the National University of Ireland’s Galway School of Physics and Applied Optics Group, Institut d’Optique Graduate School in France, Imperial College London, Politecnico di Milano in Italy and the International Laser Centre in Slovakia. It is funded by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme.

For more information about The Prism Awards, GoPhoton! and the International Year of Light, visit Photonics.com.